title: Drug delivery through the skin barrier enhanced by treatment with tissue-tolerable plasma.
abstract: Most treatments in dermatology and cosmetology are based on the penetration of topically applied drugs into the skin or through the skin barrier to the target structure in the living tissue. In the case of healthy skin, scarcely 1% of the applied drugs pass the skin barrier, depending on their chemical properties. Therefore, different physical and chemical methods have been developed to stimulate the penetration process. All these methods are based on the partial destruction of the barrier. In this study, an electrical tissue-tolerable plasma (TTP) was used to increase the penetration of a topically applied model drug (fluorescent dye) through the skin barrier. Using laser scanning microscopy, the distribution of the model drug in different depths of the skin was investigated. It was found that the plasma treatment of the skin is a very efficient process to deliver topically applied substances into the living tissue. In the case of the non-plasma-treated skin, it was found that the fluorescent dye could be detected exclusively on the skin surface. If the dye was applied to the TTP-treated skin, it could be observed in high concentration also in deeper parts of the skin extending down to the stratum basale and the papillary structure.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Hygiene and Environmental Medicine, Ernst Moritz Arndt University of Greifswald, Germany. olaflademann@yahoo.de
authors.forename: Olaf
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Lademann
authors.forename: Heike
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Richter
authors.forename: Martina C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Meinke
authors.forename: Alexa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Patzelt
authors.forename: Axel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kramer
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hinz
authors.forename: Klaus-Dieter
authors.initials: KD
authors.lastname: Weltmann
authors.forename: Bernd
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Hartmann
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Koch
mesh_terms: D000279:Administration, Cutaneous; D000818:Animals; D016503:Drug Delivery Systems / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*; D019793:Fluorescein / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D066298:In Vitro Techniques; D012867:Skin / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism*; D012869:Skin Absorption / Q000502:physiology; D034421:Sus scrofa
chemical_list: D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D019793:Fluorescein